In ancient times, off-year was also called "Lunar New Year Festival", which means before and after beginning of spring, at the turn of Lunar New Year Festival. Off-year is usually regarded as the beginning of a busy year, which means that people begin to prepare new year's goods, sweep the dust and offer sacrifices to stoves. Folk sacrificial stoves originated from the ancient custom of worshipping fire. For example, "Explanation of Names" said: "Kitchen. Make it, create food. " There is a record in Ci Hai about the word "Kitchen King": Zhuangzi Dasheng has a bun in the kitchen. Sima Biao commented: "bun, kitchen god, dressed in red, looks like a beautiful woman." The kitchen god's duty is to take charge of the kitchen fire and manage the diet. Later, it was expanded to investigate the good and evil in the world, so as to reduce good and evil. The belief in Kitchen God is a reflection of the folk people's dream of "having enough food and clothing".

Off-year, a traditional festival in China, is also called "Lunar New Year Festival", "Kitchen God Festival" and "Kitchen Sacrifice Festival". Folk activities in off-year mainly include sweeping dust and offering sacrifices to stoves. China is a vast country with great differences in customs. Due to different customs, the days called "off-year" are different. Most areas in the south are on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, while those in the north are on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, "the 24th of the twelfth lunar month" and "the night before New Year's Eve" are both called off-year. In Nanjing, the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first month is called off-year. In some parts of Yunnan, the off-year date is on the 16th of the first month, and in some parts of southwest and north, it is New Year's Eve. Off-year is usually regarded as the beginning of a busy year, which means that people begin to prepare new year's goods, sweep dust, offer sacrifices to stoves, etc., and prepare for a clean and good year, which expresses people's good wish to bid farewell to the old year, welcome the new year and welcome the good fortune. Sacrificial stoves have a history of thousands of years in our country, which is a reflection of China people's dream of "having enough food and clothing".